More Tales Of Suspense
by The Mulberry
Summary: Set after tales of suspense. Gene is desperate to find the next five rings and he'll do almost anything to get them, that includes kidnapping Pepper. I OWN NOTHING
1. Chapter 1

Gene Khan was immensely frustrated. No matter how hard it was to admit, no matter how much he had been ignoring it, it had come to this.

He needed help. He needed help finding the sixth, seventh, eight, ninth, and tenth Makluan ring. When he first saw the map, he had thought it would be easy. But he was soon proven wrong. The map was one of the most frustrating things he had ever come across. The land masses on the map at first had appeared to look similar to the ones on the earth today, but that was one of the problems. The Greenland map for the third ring, had looked _exactly _like Greenland.

When Gene would _think _that he had figured out the location of one of the rings, he would wake up the next day, look at the map, and go,"What was I thinking!?! That cannot be the location!" Sometimes, he couldn't tell whether he was looking at a body of water or a continent. One time, he had actually thought he had figured out one of the shapes to be North America. But then a few hours later he looked at the map again and realized that there was no South America attached! It was as if the map would change every time he looked at it! The marked places where the rings were even sometimes looked as if they were moving around!

Gene was currently in a hotel in Queens, checked in under the name,"Michael Borwick". He had gotten a fake ID from some dealer in Bronx and had gotten himself a credit card. Ever since he had turned thirteen, he had started an emergency bank account in case he ever needed to run away. He had been moving from hotel to hotel, borough to borough for the past two months in case his step-father or Stark was looking for him.

He would be able to decipher the map. But of course, Gene was not about to go to Rhodes's place, knock on the door and say,"Hey Tony! Rhodes! Pepper! How have you guys been? I was just wondering if Tony here would help me find the next five rings! Ohh, and sorry about trying to kill you guys and everything..." Yeah, that would end badly. He knew Stark could figure out the map though. But how could he convince him to do it?

* * *

Tony Stark lay in his bed, staring up at his ceiling with a frown on his face. One of the few lights in the room was the dim pulsing coming from the implant in his chest. He glanced over at the alarm clock in his room.

_2:34 AM_ it read. He sighed. Roberta would kill him if she knew he was up so late on a school night. He had been staying up this late for the past couple of month's now though so he was kind of used to it. Tony got in a comfortable position on his bed and tried to fall asleep, but it was no use. Plans for new armors, for finding Gene, getting his Dad back, they would keep racing through his tired mind, refusing to let him go to sleep.

Tony's face suddenly twisted in anger as he thought of Gene. Tony had never thought a human being was capable of something like that, that kind of betrayal. The way Gene had hurt them, it was horrible. He had practically taunted Tony with the fact that his father was alive. He had tried to kill Rhodey, several times. And Pepper...

Another sigh escaped Tony. Poor Pepper. She had been a walking graveyard for two months. Doom and gloom followed her wherever she went. She would still talk to Tony and Rhodey, hang out with them and everything, but she was different. Instead of running up to Tony and or Rhodey like she used to, she would calmy walk up to them and say,"Hey..." or "Whats up?" She wasn't as nearly as hyperactive and talkative as she used to be. She wouldn't start conversations anymore, she would join them. She didn't come to the armory nearly as much as she used to. Maybe once, twice a week if Tony was lucky. Her smile was different too. Instead of the pure happiness and joy it usually radiated, it was usually a fake smile, or just one that said,"Yeah, okay, im happy. Deal with it."

As much as Tony hated to admit it, Pepper had liked Gene. A lot. She had liked him more than just as a friend and he had turned around and betrayed her trust. He had broken Pepper's heart. And in the process of breaking Pepper's heart, Gene had broken Pepper. But in the deepest, darkest depths of Tony's soul, some twisted part of him was smiling. He knew that Pepper didn't have feelings for Gene anymore, that's why.

Tony shook his head. Pepper was his best friend, and that was that. He didn't care who she liked/disliked. There was no romantic, well, _anything_ going on between them.

As Tony drifted off to sleep, one thought went through his mind.

Or is there?

* * *

Tony, Rhodey, and Pepper sat inside in the cafeteria during free period in silence. It was mid December, and it was snowing out so they didn't sit on the roof. Tony was eating lunch, Rhodey was triple checking some history paper (loser), and Pepper was doing what she had been doing a lot of lately, silently listening to her iPod.

"So... You guys wanna grab some pizza tonight?" Tony asked lamely. Pepper and Rhodey both looked up, more than a little surprised. They hadn't done anything more exciting than hang out at the armory, not talking of course, ever since they battled Fin Fang Foom. Tony waited impatiently for an answer. After a few seconds, Rhodey broke the awkward silence.

"Uhh, sure. Why not?" Tony fely a little bit of relief wash over him. He looked over at Pepper hopefully.

It was obvious what Pepper wanted to say, and that was "No". Pepper was a shell of her former self. When Pepper looked up at Tony to give some excuse as to why she couldn't come, she stopped. She saw the hope in his eyes. Pepper didn't want to disappoint Tony, so reluctantly she agreed.

"Okay." She answered in a small, frail voice that had replaced her high strong, confident voice. Tony exhaled with relief.

"Okay, so we'll meet outside after school."

"Sure."

"Kay." The bell rang, signaling the end of their free period.

* * *

Pepper Potts walked home that evening with a funny feeling. She felt, well, happy. Something she hadn't really felt in a long time. Eating pizza with Rhodey and Tony, it was so normal. So... ordinary. She had been pretty surprised when Tony had asked her and Rhodey to go. When she had been eating hanging out with them, she had almost completely forgotten about Gene.

_Gene._ A shiver went down her back when she thought of him. Pepper wasn't sure if she had ever felt more betrayed in her life. Every time she thought of him a wall of emotions would crash into her. One was anger. Pepper was mad at herself for being tricked, but she was also furious at Gene. Gene had tried to kill Tony and Rhodey!

Another was sadness. She wasn't sure she had ever felt such a strong emotion before. When Gene had fought with Tony and Rhodey, and had revealed himself as the true Mandarin, he had broken her heart. When he had disappeared from the temple, he had taken it with him. Like breaking a child's favorite toy, showing them, then never letting them see it again. Or like the last time you see a person when they are horribly sick or injured, sometimes that's how you remembered them. And that emotional wall of sadness, led her into another strong emotion.

Embarrassment.

Pepper had liked Gene. _Like,_ liked Gene. She had thought he was so foreign and cool. But she had been wrong, way wrong. She had clung to Gene like a parasite. She had thought he was so awesome.

"...You got Tony and Rhodey, and you've got me..." Pepper remembered saying those words to to comfort Gene (_comfort Gene!)_ and her face turned bright red. It turned red with, embarrassment and anger. Pepper shook her head and pulled out her iPod, she listened to sad songs or rock songs to vent her feelings. Pepper knew one thing, her feelings for Gene, they were gone. Completely shook her head up and down as if she was answering someones question (the question being, "Are you sure they're gone?"). She then got a cab, tired of walking in the December cold and went home.

* * *

Gene had finally caved in. He needed Stark's help. He just didn't know how to get it. Gene sighed in frustration and rested his face in his hands, sitting on the side of the hotel bed. He snorted, he obviously wouldn't be using money, Tony was richer than he was. Power? He could tell him that if he helped him get the next five Makluan rings Gene would give him some power. Something told Gene that would work just as well as telling him he'd give him a Coke.

He could always use Tony's Dad to bribe him. But Howard could still be useful to him every once in a while. Then Gene's train of thought switched gears. He could use Rhodes! But, wait, Rhodey had his own armor now and who knows, it could come out of a backpack like Stark's. Whitney? No. Definitely not. Her father currently owned a multi-billion dollar weapons company and, well, you can see where this is going.

"C'mon, who else is there?" Gene asked the wall.

_Potts._ Gene stood up and started pacing. Pepper was one of Tony's best friends. Gene knew deep down inside, that he had liked Pepper. Not the way she had liked him. But the way Gene had felt about Pepper was that she was sorta his friend.

_But imagine the way Stark feels about her._ The evil voice in the back of his mind chided. Gene thought about this for a minute. It would be easy. Just secretly follow Potts around after school until shes alone. Gene thought back to the temple of sacrifice, the look of horror on Tony's face when the dragon was circling Pepper. Or when Zhang had threatened to kill Pepper. Right when Gene had told him he would kill her, Tony didn't hesitate at all to go into the temple.

An evil smile spread across Gene's face and he crawled into bed.

**Hoped you like it so far! Thats chapter one and this is my first fanfiction so when you push the little button down there give me constructive criticism but dont push my buttons! **


	2. Chapter 2

**I OWN NOTHING**

**I OWN NOTHING **

**I OWN ABSOLUTELY NOTHING**

**DID I MENTION HOW I OWN NOTHING????**

Rhodey smiled as he saw Pepper slowly creeping up to Tony and himself. She hadn't hung out by the lockers with Tony and Rhodey for a while now. She would just head straight for class. Tony had his head in his locker, trying to fix the water cooler in it or something so he didn't see Pepper approaching.

"Hey guys... Whats up? How was you're morning? Mine was awful. Halfway through my shower the water froze and then my cat pooped on the kitchen table and the cereal was stale and there was a note from my dad saying he was on a mission so I had to walk to school and-." Pepper had started out saying everything very slowly. But as she got farther into this detailed story of her morning her words had sped up quite a bit. She was cut off by Tony jumping in alarm and hitting his head on the top of his locker and the stare she was receiving from Rhodey.

She turned as red as a tomato, she hadn't realized how fast or how much she had been talking. Luckily the bell rang then and Pepper was halfway down the hall before Tony or Rhodey could blink.

Rhodey's smile could have blinded the sun. Tony just stood there staring after Pepper like an idiot.

"We better get to class man." Rhodey reminded him, still smiling his 600 watt smile.

"Yeah... class." Tony agreed, his smile just as big as Rhodey's.

* * *

Even though it was below freezing, Tony and Pepper met on the roof of The Tomorrow Academy during free period. They each had their warm winter coats on and they were talking and laughing just like they used to.

"So, what made you think of making the Iron Man amor in the first place?" Pepper asked Tony. Tony thought about this for a second. Why did he make the Iron Man armor? To help people, of course. But was that really it? No. Tony had a small smile on his face.

"To help people obviously. But... I also made it to rub it in my dad's face." Tony was unprepared for what happened next.

Pepper erupted with laughter. Her entire body was shaking and convulsing. Tony looked over at her in surprise and for a second he wondered if she would be okay.

"That's... I... I should have expected that! That's so... typical Tony Stark! You're... you're... you're such a show off!" Pepper said in between laughs. Tony gave her a dirty look. But it was Pepper's turn to be unprepared.

"Hey enough of the sarcasm, you sound like Gene-" Pepper's laughing fit stopped instantly. It had slipped out. The conversation between the two had been going so easily and casually that Tony hadn't even thought about what he was going to say next. They hadn't noticed it, but it had started to snow.

Tony looked over at Pepper and saw the shield back up in her eyes. That shield had been there for two month's and it had finally disappeared until Tony had said that.

"Pepper... I'm sorry..." Tony put his arm around her shoulders and was pleased when she didn't pull away.

"I didn't mean to say that." His eyes caught hers and they just stayed like that for a minute, Pepper looking up at Tony and Tony staring down at Pepper. Tony watched as the shield slowly went away from Peppers eyes.

"Tony..." Pepper said in a small voice.

"What?" Tony asked, thankful she was talking to him.

"I... I'm sorry!" She cried out, her voice breaking. Pepper threw her arms around Tony and buried her face in the poofy chest of his jacket, sobbing.

"I'm sorry I trusted him! I'm sorry how I was so obsessed with him! I'm sorry about how much I liked him... I feel like such an idiot! I'm so embarrassed and I'm so sorry that I wanted to tell him that you're Iron Man! I'm sorry that I ignored you for weeks and I hung out with Gene thinking he saved my life even though it was his fault I was in that position in the first place! Im so, so sorry, sorry sorry, sorry sorry sorry sorry..." Pepper sobbed into his coat, her voice muffled by fabric. Tony just stared down at her, shell shocked. At first, he was at a loss for words. He just stared down at the shaking Pepper, he had never seen her like this.

"Pepper, no, _I'm sorry._" He put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her away so she could look up at him. Her eyes were red, wet, and puffy and her face was tear stained.

"Why?" She demanded.

"I trusted him first. You and Rhodey were right all along. You had known that his step-father was a criminal and you tried to tell me but I wouldn't listen. I put you and Rhodey in danger everyday just being near him. It was selfish of me because I mostly just wanted to find the Makluan rings but at the same time I trusted him. That's why I'm sorry." Tony said softly. Pepper looked up at Tony.

"Thank you, Tony." Tony almost gasped. That's exactly how the Living Laser had thanked him when Tony told him he wasn't worthless. The smile that Pepper gave Tony then, melted his heart away. Then, her nose wrinkled up. Tony thought she was going to cry again.

"ACHOOOOO!!!!" Pepper sneezed. Tony blinked a few times and then he started laughing. It was snowing pretty hard out now and a few snowflakes had landed on Pepper's nose, causing her to sneeze. Pepper started laughing too. When they both stopped laughing they opened their eyes and realized how close their faces had gotten. Tony was staring deep into Pepper's eyes and Pepper was staring at his lips. They slowly started to lean into each other. They were inching their way closer to each other's faces, but then the bell rang signaling the end of their free period.

"Uhhh.. umm.... I... uhhh... have to go too..." Tony stammered pathetically.

"Umm, have to get to class." Pepper finished for him. They awkwardly walked to their next period, unaware of the pair of eyes that had been spying on their entire conversation the next building over.

* * *

Gene smiled evily as he watched the trio emerge from The Tomorrow Academy when the school day was over. They were laughing and talking like they always used to. Gene's eyes narrowed, not much had really changed, except for that little scene between Potts and Stark on the roof.

Rhodes flagged down a cab and they all climbed in. The cab started going in the direction of Potts's house. Gene had to resist the urge to laugh out loud, this was just getting better by the second. It would be like stealing candy from a baby. Stark and Rhodes would leave Pepper home alone. Gene was praying that her father wasn't home, but considering he was an FBI agent, he was hoping he would be working. If he wasn't, then he'd take him out of the picture, it really wouldn't be that hard. Even though Gene was in two-inch thick armor, a shiver went up his spine. Not from the wind and the snow though. Part of Gene actually felt bad about thinking about killing Pepper's dad. He couldn't imagine what that would do to Pepper.

_It would kill her too, _one of the voices in Gene's head chirped. Gene shook his head and muffled the voice before it could say anything else irrelevant. If Gene had to kill Pepper's dad, he would do it. But as Gene teloported to Pepper's house, he couldn't get rid of the nauseous feeling he had.

* * *

"See ya Pepper." Tony said as Pepper Hugged him and Rhodey before getting out of the cab.

"Bye Pepper." Rhodey said.

"Bye guys." She said. She looked at them before she got out of the cab and smiled at them before leaving. Tony and Rhodey both looked at each other.

"Peppers back." They chorused. While Rhodey told the cab driver where they were going, Tony settled down into his seat with a smile on his face. Not knowing just how soon Pepper would be taken away again.

**Ohhhh....... What will happen next? Are you dying of anticipation? Has anyone peed their pants yet???? And please tell me if it was the cheesiest thing you've ever read with the pepperony scene up there. (for all of you new iron man armored adventures fans out there, im sure you know this but pepperony is pepper and tony)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three..... You excited?**

**I OWN ****N O T H I N G**

Pepper was up in her room changing into a purple tank top and her Spongebob Squarepants pajama pants when she heard the front door open and close.

"Tony? Rhodey?" She called leaing her head out of her door.

No answer.

"Dad?" She didn't think it was her Dad considering he wasn't supposed to be home from his mission for two days.

"George?" George was her Dad's best friend and Pepper wouldn't be surprised if he came over on a Thursday night to watch a football game or do whatever it was middle-aged men did. When no noise came from downstairs Pepper got a little freaked out. Every scary movie she had ever seen raced into her mind. One Missed Call, Prom Night, The Grudge, Arachnophobia, The Nightmare Before Christmas- okay that was really scary with the skeleton kidnapping Santa Clause and all of those disturbing songs, and Christmas was only two weeks away.

Pepper went over to her bed and flipped the matress over, revealing a metal baseball bat. She grabbed the bat and tip-toed down the hallway, ready for anything, or, so she thought. She was definately not ready for was about to happen.

Pepper made her way downstairs and slowly walked into the kitchen. She looked out the window and was got very scared when she saw that there was no car in her driveway. Okay, so she wasn't over reacting, something she tended to do quite a bit. Pepper started making her way towards the living room.

"Hello Potts." Pepper stopped dead in her tracks. She knew that voice. She knew that voice all too well. Pepper turned around slowly, her eyes closed and when she had done a full 180 degrees she opened them.

Gene Khan stood there with his arms behind his back, a smirk planted on his face. He was all of four feet from Pepper, she had no clue how he could have snuck up on her like that.

"Surprised? Or are you finaly speechless for once? I have to say, it's a nice change." Pepper's eyes grew wide. Her mouth pressed into a thin line.

"Gene..." She hissed. Gene was startled. That did not sound like Potts.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Pepper shouted. She raised the metal baseball bat (which Gene had failed to notice) over her head and swung it at _his_ head with all of her strength. Gene's eyes widened and he threw himself out of the way just in time to miss the skull crushing blow. Pepper accidently hit the kitchen cabinent. The cabinent had an assortment of knick-knacks on it, and that included a small bowling ball. The bowling ball rolled off of the cabinent and hit Pepper on the top of her head, knocking her out cold.

Gene looked over at the unconcious Pepper.

That was _too _easy.

* * *

Tony and Rhodey were both very surprised when Pepper didn't come to school the next day. She had been so happy the night before they had been sure she would come to school, but she didn't. During free period, Tony tried calling her several times but all he got was, "Hey! This is Pepper! Leave a message after the beep!" (beep). He left her a few voice mails saying things on the line of, "Hi Pepper, this is Tony. You propably can't get to the phone right now but call me as soon as you can."

After school Tony tried calling her a few more times but gave up the eighth time he heard her voice mail.

"Tony, she's propably sick. Give her some rest." Rhodey told him as they made their way towards the Subway. When he said that, Tony remembered him and Pepper on the roof of school when it was 31 degrees farenheit out.

"You're propably right, we were out on the roof during free period yesterday. She propably got a cold." Tony informed Rhodey.

"What? What were you two doing on the roof?" Rhodey asked Tony. It had been cold out yesterday and Rhodey didn't see a reason for them to be out there. Tony turned bright red when Rhodey asked him this.

"We were, you know, we were, just, talking and stuff." Tony stammered. Rhodey looked over at his friend in confusion. But when he saw that Tony's face had a light red shade to it and that he was biting his lip, Rhodey thought he knew exactly what had been going on on the roof.

"So, when are you and Pepper going on you're first date?" Tony gasped and smacked Rhodey upside the head.

"What? Did I miss the big kiss?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about!" Tony spat. Rhodey snickered at his friends over reaction. They got onto the subway and everything seemed perfectly normal. At least, for all of ten minutes it did.

Tony felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He took it out and realized he was staring at Pepper's name lit up on the screen. Tony almost dropped his phone in excitement, and because the subway had just given a violent jerk.

"Hey Pepper. Why weren't you in-"

"Hello Tony." Tony's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. That was definately not Pepper. "Umm, I'm sorry, but who am I speaking to?" Tony asked.

"You don't recognize me? Potts recognized me the second she heard my voice." Tony said nothing. He was really confused.

"Hmmm... Let's start this conversation over again. Hello Iron Man." Tony stopped breathing. There were only three people on this planet that knew he was Iron Man. Rhodey, Pepper, and...

"Gene..." Tony said so quietly that Rhodey didn't even hear it.

"You are smart. So is Potts, but she's not smart enough to outwit me." Tony's grip on his cell phone tightened. Everything slowed down, the people getting on and off the subway, Rhodey repeatedly asking him, "Who are you talking to?" It was all in slow motion now, all a blur.

"Where is she?" Tony snarled into his phone.

"With me of course." Came the smart-ass reply. Tony was sure he was about to break his phone in half. He was so angry he couldn't even speak.

Gene heard Tony breathing heavily on the other line and decided to get to the point.

"Ohh, but if you wanted to know the specific location of where she is at this moment I would be giving _my_ location away as well. But if you would like to see her, you just need to agree to one thing."

"What is it?" Tony asked without hesitation. Gene had been right, he would jump off a bridge for Pepper.

"How about we get the old team back together? Did you know Stark, that the Mandarin had _ten_ rings? Not five, ten." Tony was shocked to hear this.

"I found a map. It's not the easiest map to read so I was hoping you could help me out." Gene finished.

"Put her on the line, I need to know she's alright." Gene had been expecting this. Tony heard nothing for a few heart stopping moments.

"Tony?" Tony exhaled a breath he had been holding in. Pepper was fine, for now.

"Pepper are you okay? Where are you?" Tony asked frantically.

"Listen Tony, don't come. It's a trap. There are five other Makluan ring's you can't let him-" Because Pepper talked so fast, she was able to get in most of what she had wanted to say before the phone was wrenched from her.

"Pepper? Pepper!?!" Tony said to his phone.

"Were at you're... what could you call it Potts? Iron Man Cave. Don't bring that fancy backpack." The line went dead.

**Hee hee hee..... reviews!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Jesus sorry about all of the fricken mistakes earlier it was 2 in the morning and i was so damn tired i just wanted to get the chapter posted and go to bed. I edited it as best as I could. **

**I OWN NOTHING**

"He won't come." The red headed, hazel eyed girl informed the person that was using one of the giant computers on the wall of the armory. Pepper was leaning against the wall a few feet from him. She had tried running away three times but Gene would just put on the rings and teleport right in front of her as the eleven foot tall Mandarin, so she had given up.

"You don't think so? It sounded like he was coming." Gene replied. Pepper said nothing. When she had woken up it had been in the control chair in the armory. She had seen Gene using the giant computer and she had tired to make a run for it but he had easily caught her.

"Gene, c'mon. Don't do this, we were you're friends." Pepper said quietly. Gene glanced over at her. She was looking up at him with eyes filled with hope. He was tempted to say okay. Gene would never admit it, but Tony, Rhodey, and Pepper had been the closest friends he had ever had.

"Sorry, but friends don't try to hit you with a baseball bat." Pepper brought her hand to the top of her head where the bowling ball had hit her. There was a huge bump there and it hurt whenever she touched it. She was a little dizzy whenever she moved around and she had a killer headache. What would possess her father to put a bowling ball on top of a kitchen cabinet? Or had she put it there?

"What are you doing anyways?" Pepper asked rudely. She had been trying to figure it out for the past two hours but everything on the monitor was written in Chinese. There were some pictures every time he scrolled down but they were of buildings and ruins that look like they were ten trillion years old.

Gene looked over at Pepper again. She was staring up at the monitor with her eyebrows furrowed, her head tilted to the side and she had her arms crossed. Gene smiled, she still was curious.

"Curiosity killed the cat." Gene replied. Pepper snorted. He was still sarcastic.

"Tony will just come as Iron Man and kick the crap out of you."

"He shouldn't, I told him not to."

"And you think he'll listen to you?"

"He will when _you're_ life is on the line."

"Gene Khan. If you don't let me go right now, I'll, I'll... I'll put my hand up you're butt, rip out you're intestines and then make you eat them!" Pepper threatened.

Gene just laughed.

* * *

Rhodey was sure part of Tony's brain had imploded. He wasn't thinking rationally. They needed to come up with a plan.

"Tony stop! Tony!" Rhodey shouted after him. Tony was running out of the subway as fast as he could, dodging people left an right. Rhodey knew that the second he was out he would find an alley and change into Iron Man. Tony was about twelve feet in front of him, but Rhodey was gaining. He finally caught up to him when they were above ground

"Tony! TONY!!!!" Rhodey yelled. Tony finally stopped and turned around. His face was red and he was shaking all over. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides and he looked like he was about to punch something- Rhodey took a step back.

"What!?!" Tony shouted, unable to say more than that for fear that the list of things he wanted to shout would come out of his mouth.

"You need to slow down! We need a plan. You're doing exactly what Gene wants you to do! Just, just stop and breathe!" Rhodey said, hoping his words would calm Tony.

"Slow down?! He has Pepper Rhodey! Gene has Pepper!" He hissed back. Okay, well, at least he had stopped running.

"I know! I know! But we need a plan! If you just run in there, Gene won't let you leave without you giving him what he wants." Tony thought about Rhodey's words. He was right. They needed to stop and think. If they were going to get Pepper back they needed a plan. All of the sudden a loop-hole popped into Tony's head.

"Gene said that I couldn't bring my backpack. He never said that _you_ couldn't bring my backpack."

* * *

Even though Pepper was being held captive and her life was "on the line" as Gene had put it, she was extremely bored. She had to stand in the corner by the monitor and be quiet. Gene was still reading, well, whatever it was he was reading and Pepper couldn't read it because it was in Chinese.

"You do know what is going to happen right?" Pepper asked Gene staring at her fingernail's.

"And what's that?" Gene asked, annoyed.

"Tony is going to blast through that door any second and beat you into next week." Tony wasn't stupid. He would come as Iron Man. He wasn't just going to let Gene have the next five rings. Even if Gene told him not to (he was definitely not going to listen to Gene).

"Pepper you're forgetting, I still have five Makluan rings." Gene reminded her. "I could of killed Iron Man with one."

"But you didn't." Pepper pointed out. Gene sighed. Before he could respond they heard the door to the armory open. Pepper looked over at the door with a triumphant grin on her face, expecting to see the red and gold armor that would be Gene's downfall. That triumphant grin shattered into a million pieces when she saw Tony walk in. No armor, no backpack, no nothing.

"Tony! What are you doing!?" Pepper shouted at him in horror. He was walking right into Gene's trap! She started running towards him, but the floor of the armory was tiled and Pepper was still in her socks because when Gene had kidnapped her she had been in her pajamas. She slipped and fell flat on her face with an "Oomph!" sound coming from her. Tony had been watching Pepper the whole time making sure there wasn't anything wrong with her. She seemed fine. But seeing her fall so easily on the floor like that, Tony realized just how small and helpless Pepper was. Okay, so she wasn't helpless. Pepper could usually take care of herself. But in a situation like this she was powerless. What really scared Tony was that she wasn't tied up or anything. It was as if there was no need to.

Tony's eyes slowly trailed up from Pepper to the person standing right behind her. Gene was staring at Tony with an amused smile on his face.

"Nice to see you again Stark. You haven't changed much." Gene said conversationally, as if he did this kind of thing everyday.

"I wish I could say the same thing." Tony replied harshly.

"Tony! Go! You can't let him get the next five ring's!" Pepper yelled as she got up off of the floor. She only succeeded in standing up halfway before her feet slipped out from under her and she fell flat on her back.

Pepper moaned. This was not something she should be doing after being knocked unconscious by a bowling ball. She felt like she was going to throw up. She was so tired that if she shut her eye's for more than four seconds she would fall asleep.

"Pepper! Are you okay?" Tony shouted, running over to her.

Tony was only a few feet away when Gene stood in front of Pepper, blocking Tony's way.

"Are you ready to help me decipher the map?" Tony was looking past Gene and staring at Pepper, she still hadn't gotten up and she looked like she was fighting the urge to fall asleep. Without even looking at Gene Tony nodded once. He followed him to the other side of the armory and Gene pulled out the Makluan rings. Tony twitched when he saw them. All of the hard work they had spent looking for these things and this is what they get in return.

"Maybe it's better if we just don't find the fifth ring." Tony remembered Pepper saying those words. He remembered how much she had not wanted to find it. She had been right, the Mandarin had gotten the ring.

Gene put the rings on the table. He made a square, putting one ring at each corner and then he put one in it's dead center. The rings lit up and a giant hologram of Earth appeared in front of Tony. At least, he thought it was Earth. The continent's looked nothing like the ones on Earth today. There were five places marked on the map that Tony guessed marked the location's of the rings.

"Is, is that Earth?" Tony couldn't help asking.

"It must be. But look." Gene took the rings off the table and the map disappeared. He made the square again and the hologram appeared. The map looked different. The continents were different shapes and sizes and the location of the rings were different.

"What happened?" Tony asked, stumped.

"I have no idea." Gene repeated the action a few more times when Tony noticed something. Gene didn't rearrange the rings in any particular order. He would make the square randomly. _The square has to be made a certain way._

"Any thoughts?" Gene asked suddenly.

"Um, nope. No clue." Tony muttered. Gene quirked an eyebrow.

"Stark, you can't lie to me. You're really bad at it." Gene told him. Gene's eyes wandered over to Pepper who had gotten up and had collapsed into the control chair in the middle of the room. She was asleep and truthfully Gene wasn't that surprised. The bowling ball had hit her pretty hard and he suddenly wondered if she had a small concussion. That coupled with the fact that her and Gene had been arguing all day and she had tried to escape several times. Tony followed Gene's vision and realized he was staring at Pepper.

"Don't you touch her!" Tony growled. All of the sudden the door to the armory opened, surprising Gene. In walked Iron Man. Tony exhaled with relief. Rhodey wasn't the best at controlling the armor but at least he would be able to buy them some time.

"What the-" Gene started but was cut off because he had to jump out of the way of a laser beam. Tony raced over to Pepper.

"Pepper wake up!" Tony shouted. Pepper sat up so abruptly that she almost hit her head on Tony's.

"What!?!" She shouted into Tony's face. He pulled her out of the seat.

"We need to go now!" They heard Rhodey shoot a few more lasers at Gene. It wouldn't be too long before Gene got a hold of himself and put the ring's on. Pepper became aware of her surroundings. She looked over at Rhodey in the Mark 01 armor. He was slowly marching towards the table Gene was hiding behind. Gene would kill him once he got the ring's on.

"What about Rhodey?" Pepper asked.

"He's not fighting Gene he's just going to distract him while we get away." Pepper didn't move. She just stood there watching one of the two closest friend's she had go on a suicide mission. Tony didn't want to leave Rhodey here alone with Gene either but it was too late now.

"Pepper c'mon!!!" Tony grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the armory into the cold December night. Pepper was absolutely freezing. She only had on a tank top and a loose pair of pajama pants. Pepper and Tony raced across the Rhodes's lawn and into the factory. Tony had done a pretty good job of fixing the armory after it had been blown up but he hadn't touched the factory. There was debris all over. The building itself looked like it could fall in at any moment but both teenager's would rather risk that than being caught by the Mandarin. Half of the roof was missing so there was a pile of snow in there too.

"This place look's so different, it's unreal." Pepper murmured wide eyed. Tony silently agreed with her. From behind they heard a loud crashing sound. Tony whipped around to see Iron Man coming towards them, and a new hole in the ceiling.

"Rhodey where's-" Another deafening crash silenced Tony. Rhodey spun around and fired more lasers at Gene and he flew into the other side of the factory.

"This place is going to come down on top of us!" Tony shouted. He was right. If there was any more wall crashing or laser firing in the factory it was going to collapse. The three of them raced out and found themselves in a winter wonderland under the eerie glow of a full moon.

There wasn't a single cloud in the sky and the snow glowed under the light of the moon. The moon was so bright that you could see just as well at 3:00 PM. It was the biggest moon full moon Pepper had ever seen. The tall buildings looked like they were watching them. It looked like something out of a science fiction movie. Even though she was freezing her but off and she was being chased by a disturbed teenager with the power to make one plus one equal fish, Pepper thought that it was beautiful.

"Stark." A deep and masculine voice said from behind them. They turned around to find The Mandarin standing in the entrance to the factory.

"How do I read the map?" Tony couldn't tell him. He wouldn't. Rhodey fired another laser at him but it just hit an invisible barrier a foot around Gene. Gene turned towards Rhodey and pointed a balled fist at him.

"You are getting on my last nerve." He fired a laser back at Rhodey and it hit him square in the chest. Rhodey flew twenty yard's and hit the ground so hard it was like a mini explosion went off.

"Rhodey!" Pepper and Tony cried at the same time. Gene pointed a balled fist at Pepper.

"She's next." Tony said nothing. Rhodey was wearing the Iron Man armor so he was fine, just unconscious. If something that powerful hit Pepper...it could kill her.

"I mean it." He definately meant it.

"Talk Stark, NOW!!!" Gene had had enough of this game. Even though that voice in the back of his head kept going, _"Stop! They were you're friend's! They are more important then a bunch of stupid ring's!" _ Gene's fist lit up.

"Stop!" Tony screamed. The light on Gene's fist dimmed.

"There is a certain way you need to form the square you make with the ring's. You make the square randomly. The ring's need to be placed a certain way every time you open the map." Gene lowered his fist and Tony started breathing again.

On the inside of Gene it was like a nuclear explosion had gone off. He could find the ring's now, he would just need to try every combination for making the square until he saw that first map he had seen in Machu Picchu. But there was a problem: Stark. Tony would try to stop Gene at all costs. Gene didn't want to do it. He really didn't want to do it. But if he wanted the ring's, (which he did), Tony would keep getting in his way.

Gene raised a balled fist at Tony. Tony's eyes widened in horror, he knew exactly what Gene was about to do. So did Pepper. She had been standing five feet away from Tony trying to be as quiet as possible since the moment Gene had pointed his fist at her. Seeing it pointed at Tony, she couldn't bare it.

Pepper remembered when she thought the Crimson Dynamo had blown up Tony. She remembered when the armor had come to life and shot Tony with a laser and the heart stopping moment's when he had been lying on the ground not breathing. Pepper remembered when Tony had been in outer space, running out of oxygen, how close he had been to death. Most recently, Pepper remembered a dragon close to eating Tony. Tony wasn't dead yet, and she was going to keep it that way.

Pepper threw herself at Tony. She successfully pushed him out of the way just in time. The laser missed him, Pepper wasn't as lucky though. The laser hit her in the chest. The cry of agony that erupted out of her mouth ripped apart the night, and Tony's heart.

**I know that's not how gene made the map pop up in the tales of suspense episode but in the episode he threw the rings and they all floated up in the air and like, joined together to make the map and i didn't really know how to write that into this particular story. REVIEWS!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey this is chapter five... i think....**

**annyhooo i have a question for all you experts out there**

**Why do the files i have uploaded on fanfiction have a countdown next to them? It says like 50 days or something. I am concerned. If you review (please review) tell me why. I would appreciate it.**

Tony watched, horrified, as Pepper was thrown halfway across the lawn in front of the factory before she hit the ground and rolled another five feet. She finally stopped, her back to him. The arm she was laying on top of was outstretched above her head as if reaching for something and the other one hugged her stomach. This could not be happening.  
"PEPPER!!!" Tony cried. He raced over to her as fast as his legs would carry him. When he finally reached her he fell to his knees.

"Pepper..." He whispered. Tony reached out to touch her, but when his hand touched her skin he yelped and jerked back his arm. He had been electrocuted. Tony flinched when he saw electricity race along Pepper's body.

"Oh my god, Pepper..." Tony didn't know what to do. Pepper's breathing was ragged and she was twitching. Aside from that electricity would fly across her every few seconds. Her face had a painful grimace on it. Her shirt was blackened and burned away where she had been hit and you could see burned flesh under it. Gene had hit her with a massive amount of electricity.

Tony was blinded with unspeakable rage. The look of inhuman hatred that he gave the Mandarin made the Devil pee his pants. The Boogie Man hid under his bed. Every single Jedi Knight felt a disturbance in the force. God cringed. Every ghost and ghoul fled to their grave. Dora and The Wiggles stopped singing.

Gene was going to burn at the stake. He was going to make him wish he had never been born, let alone cross paths with Tony Stark. Tony would have each of his limbs tied to a horse and have them all run in different directions. He was going to boil him in hot oil. He was going to chop his fingers off with those damned Makluan rings on them and then make him eat them. First he had taken his dad away from him and now Pepper.

Tony's evil thoughts were interrupted by a wimpering sound. Pepper was staring at Tony with a pained expression on her face.

"Pepper! Pepper can you hear me?" She just stared.

"Pepper you're going to be okay. I promise."

Tony didn't realize it, but she was wondering if _he_ was okay. Pepper would have asked him, but she was in so much pain that she couldn't speak. She knew that _she_ wasn't okay. Pepper didn't really care, as long as Tony was alright. She couldn't imagine her life without him at this point.

Pepper's eyes wandered until she found something to look at besides that gut wrenching look in Tony's eyes.

Gene was standing a ways behind Tony. He was in the Mandarin armor so she couldn't see if tears were pouring down his face like Tony. She hated him. But, she couldn't blame this on him. She was almost thanking him for lifting his hand slow enough so she could jump in the way. Almost. But it wasn't his fault she jumped in the way. Pepper blamed no one. It had been her choice to save Tony's life.

Gene watched numbly as he saw Stark crying over the dying girl. What had he done? He had meant to hit Tony! Not Pepper!

_But would it really be any different, if she was sobbing over him and he was lying on his death bed?_ That voice asked him. He wished he had listened to it. Pepper was going to die and it was all his fault. He would not be able to live with himself, knowing that she was dead because of him. Stupid rings, pointless. They only destroy...

Gene was struck with an idea. If the rings were oh so powerful, wouldn't they be able to save Pepper? They had to be more than just weapons. They had to be...

Pepper stopped breathing. Gene and Tony both realized it at the exact same time. They both reacted differently though. Tony yelled her name countless times. Gene proceeded with using the rings to save her life.

Tony saw Gene lift his hand in his and Pepper's direction. That searing hatred returned. Tony was so angry that he couldn't even breath. Gene had just killed Pepper and now he was going to kill him. The rings started to glow and Tony braced himself for whatever Gene was going to do to him. He closed his eyes.

He then heard someone gasping for air.

Slowly, he opened his them, not sure if he was dead. Tony realized he was staring at Pepper's body moving up and down as she sucked in air. Her eyes were three times their normal size and she was shaking all over. After she stopped gulping in air she sat up and touched her chest.

The burn was gone. Pepper felt fine. What just happened? She had been a goner. She looked up from her shirt and was lost in Tony's deep blue eyes. They were wide, moist, and had a reddish tint to them. He looked like he was about to start crying again.

"Tony... are you..." She couldn't finish because she was squished in a tight bear hug.

"Are, are you okay?" Tony choked. He couldn't believe it. Pepper was alive, she was going to be alright! A relief that he had never felt before settled in on Tony. Pepper would live. He wasn't going to lose her.

"I'm okay, are you?" She couldn't help asking. Sure, she had pushed him out of the way but what if she had hurt him in the process?

_"Me!?"_ Tony was outraged. Him? Was _he_ okay? He gently pushed Pepper away so she could look into his eyes.

"Never do that again." He ordered.

"Do what?"

"Save me! I can take care of myself!" Pepper's jaw fell open and she stared at Tony with a look of disbelief.

"Are you kidding me!?! I save you're life and that's the thanks I get?" Pepper demanded. It was Tony's turn to be shocked.

"You could have died! It was idiotic!"

"It was not! _You_ coud have died! If it weren't for me you could be walking towards the white light!" She yelled.

"I don't care about me! Never do something that stupid ever again!"

"You're not the boss of me." She countered with a sly grin. Tony was sure his head was about to explode. Was she doing this on purpose? Did she deliberately want him to think she was going to try to scale the Statue of Liberty or something?

"Wait, how am I alive?" Pepper asked. Tony had been wondering this too. His eyes widened.

"Gene..." He breathed. He turned around to find that Gene had disappeared, there were only two massive foot prints in the snow. They didn't have time to think to deeply into Gene saving Pepper's life.

"Uhhh... What did I miss?" Rhodey was walking towards Pepper and Tony with the Iron Man backpack.

Pepper threw a snowball at him.

**One more chapter to go!! Whooo!! Yaaa!!! Review if you want that chapter by christmas!! Wooo!! Yaaaa!!!!! Wooo!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Last chapter.... Merry Christmas!**

**I OWN NOTHING**

"Merry Christmas!" Pepper Potts shouted, giving her friend a giant bear hug.

"Hi Pepper, Merry Christmas." Rhodey greeted, returning the hug. When he had answered the door he had not expected Pepper. Her visit was sort of a surprise, it was Christmas and it was 10:00 PM.

"I just finished dinner with my family and I wanted to come by to say happy holidays." She explained. Rhodey gave her an odd look.

"What?" She asked. Pepper always earned these types of glances from people but she wasn't sure what she had said wrong this time.

"You had dinner this late?" Pepper rolled her eyes.

"And what's Tony doing on Christmas? Flying to houses and impersinating Santa?" Rhodey laughed out loud.

"Come in it's freezing out." Rhodey said taking note of her shivering.

"I don't really have time. I promised my dad I would be back soon. Tell Tony I'm out here I wan't to say Merry Christmas ." She said impatiently. He snickered.

"What now?"

"You just want to be alone with Tony." Rhodey teased. Pepper gasped and punched him in the shoulder.

"I do not!" She said defensively."I just wanted to be a good friend and show some kindness on Christmas!" Rhodey kept laughing but he went inside to get Tony anyways.

Pepper stood there alone on the front porch, thinking about what Rhodey had said.

She did just want to be alone with Tony. Rhodey couldn't know that though, it would be too embarassing. Pepper had likd Tony almost from the moment she had met him. But then she had started liking Gene and those feelings had sort of drifted. It had been two weeks since Gene had made his unexpected appearance, and those feelings for Tony had been resurfacing.

"Hey Pepper." A smooth and easy going voice startled Pepper out of her internal babble. She looked up and was staring into Tony's smiling face.

"Merry Christmas!" She gave Tony the same hug she had given Rhodey. When she let go he looked down at her with a concerned expression.

"You came here this late, all alone?" He questioned. Pepper rolled her eyes. Tony had been treating her like some pathetic three year old for the past two weeks. He would insist on calling her early in the morning before school to "make sure she didn't sleep in" but when vacation came he had to stop using that excuse. After school he would tag along with her until she went home and he would call her right when she walked in her front door. He would constantly call her and text her before she went to bed, and Pepper was sick of it.

"I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." She said sticking her nose in the air. Tony snorted and she hit him. She turned her back to him and stared up at the sky. Snow was falling very slowly but very heavily. The sky was so black Pepper thought she might fall into it. Like the night she had almost been killed it looked very strange, the pitch black sky spitting up thousands of snowflakes a second.

"I don't think that every snowflake could be different." Pepper said. Tony blinked a few times, that was random.

"Well, why not?" He asked.

"Just look how many there are! Imagine how many snowflakes have ever fallen! It's insane to think that two couldn't be the same!" She rambled on. Tony chuckled. That was Pepper. She didn't have a care in the world and Tony loved that about her. He went to stand next to her and looked down at her face. She was staring at the sky in awe, she looked deep in thought.

"Pepper?" Tony said, getting her attention. She turned her head turned towards him but her eyes still lingered on the falling snow.

"I'm so sorry you were almost hurt." That shocked her out of her wandering mind. She looked up at him in confusion. Pepper and Tony had already had the whole, "It was my fault you were hurt", battle. She had ended up winning by saying that if he didn't stop blaming himself she would jump in front of a subway.

"I'm fine, I thought we were done with that-"

"Pepper I know but what if you weren't fine? What if you had died?" He aksed her suddenly. He expected an answer, so she gave him one.

"I would either be in hell boiling in a cauldron for hacking into my dad's computer so many times and thinking of ways to kill Whitney, or, I'd be in heaven, swaying in a hammock sipping coconut juice out of a coconut next to some ocean or whatever they have up there." She said jokingly. Tony stared at her shocked. Pepper started laughing.

"That was not funny." he dead-panned.

"It totally was!" Pepper laughed. "You should see you're face-"

"Pepper can't you ever be serious!?" He snapped. Pepper sighed with a smile on her face and looked back up at the sky.

"Tony, hasn't anyone ever told you, life is to important to be taken seriously." She murmured. Tony thought about that for a second.

"That makes no sense." He said. Pepper just kept staring up at the sky.

"Sure it does." Pepper insisted. She felt a buzzing in her pocket and took out her phone.

"It's my dad. Listen I have to go." She said turning to him. "I'll see you later, and will you please stop calling me? It's getting really annoying."

"Doubt it." Tony ansewered with a sly smile. "Merry Christmas." He hugged her and she started down the stairs. She turned around one more time to wave bye. Tony waved back and watched her until she was in a cab and on her way towards her house.

"Love you..." Tony mumbled so quietly, he himslef didn't even hear it.

**Yay!! My first story complete! REVIEW!! I have another story coming along so keep on checking fanfiction!! Good Night folks!! (walks off stage. Crowd is applauding and shouting.) _Life is to important to be taken seriously_ is a quote from Oscar Wilde. It is one of my favorites.**


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